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8.20.2011

Back to The Basics

I grew up in a small town. When I say small, I don’t mean
thousands, or even hundreds of people. I mean tens. Barely. My elementary school
was a tiny school with only two classrooms and was the same one my dad went to.
I believe that when I started going there, there were approximately 50 kids
total, split into K-3 and 4-6.

I remember my first day of school, standing there with my best
friend and her strawberry shortcake lunch box, waiting for the car that would
come and pick us up. Yup, we had a car, because there were only three kindergarteners
and we went to school later than the older kids.

Me and My Bestie - First Day of School

My first teacher was a hippy. Well, it was 1983 and there
was some carryover from the 70s, I suppose. She played the acoustical guitar
for music hour. We sang Joni Mitchell, The Beatles and Anne Murray songs. I
still know all the words to the Yellow Submarine. She ate something that at the
time I thought was the strangest thing ever – seaweed! I now know this as
sushi. Our “Christmas” play was “The Giving Tree” by
Shel Silverstein. I played a key role; I was a branch.

The cook was named Bobbi. I will never forget her – she used
to check to make sure we ate all of our lunch. We would try to trick her by
spreading things out, mixing them around or flattening them down, but she was
never fooled. We also used to dare each other to mix whatever was left over all
together and eat it. Gross. I think this is where I developed my strong dislike
of milk. Have you ever eaten mashed-potato-pizza-green bean-milk?

I looked forward to school. My best friend was there; I
liked learning. I enjoyed the social interaction and the games. We built forts
out of pine needles and played with our care bears. We played kick ball and
steal the bacon and tag. The older kids chased the younger ones around, either
trying to beat them up or kiss them. I know it sounds weird and I actually don’t
remember being kissed, only being chased around with the threat of being
kissed.

We used to play on the flipping bar! Remember the flipping
bar? I could swing around with one leg and no hands. I think about that now and
it makes my tummy hurt. I can’t believe I did that. It’s so dangerous! Do they
still have the flipping bar in schools?

I have many good memories of my school days. I always looked
forward to going back to school. I think back on that time and wonder: are
things inherently the same now? We have so much more technology and kids are
being crammed into public schools. Will kids have good memories of their school
days when they are my age?

Do you have good memories of your school days? What kind of
lunchbox did you have? (I had a care-bears lunchbox.) Do you have kids now? Are
they excited to go back to school or do they dread it?

Fun! I love that you actually have that photo. I wish I had something similar. I enjoyed school, I found all the people so interesting to figure out. There were about 100 total kids in my grade when I graduated, so it wasn't a huge town. Just the right size for me.My kids are 4 & 6, so I love school even more now. ;) They look forward to it and when it is in session, they declare daily how much they love it. Yay! For the record, my daughter's lunchbox this year is a dog. My son's is Cars.

I went to elementary school in New Yoek City, there was a lot of us, but my class got smaller and smaller; by the 8th grade there were only 24 of us.I never had a lunch box, it was a brown paper bag.I didn't like school, always pined for the summers off.My daughter liked school, spent 7 years in college (changed majors here and there). I started going when she had been going awhile and graduated a year after her.We wore uniforms in grade school. blue pants and white shirts for boys, blue "jumpers" with white blouses for girls.

I love your first-day-of-school dress. I have a picture of me in my smocked dress with white collar, wearing saddle shows and clutching my plaid lunchbox -- so proud! My kids loved the first day of school and I took photos of them every year until they made me stop. :( I still thrill at the thought of a new notebook, pencils, and pens!

When you said a "small town" you were not exagerating in the least. I love how you captured all those memories of your time in school and the photo of you and your friend, adorable!My first lunchbox..I don't really remember. How sad, now that I think about it.

Great memories! Sounds a lot like my first school. Our class sizes were tiny. There were only 30 or so people in my kindergarten class, and I loved it. The school I ended up graduating from had more like 100 people in it. While it was still a small school, my experiences there were nothing like the ones I had at my first school...which sounds a lot like the experiences you had at your school. Getting chased in the playground with threats of being kissed, playing on the merry-go-round. Miss those days! Thanks for bringing them back with this excellent post and for linking up with LALB!

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